CEBS Compliance Policy Guidelines

All CEBS graduates, of any year, are eligible to participate and be recognized for CEBS Compliance. It is a formal acknowledgement of the commitment to maintain a high level of professional expertise.

Continuous, career-long learning is considered a core value of the CEBS designation. While all CEBS graduates are expected to continue their professional development, there is no revocation policy for not participating in CEBS Compliance. CEBS graduates who choose to participate are publicly recognized for their commitment to the profession and their career and are entitled to use the status of CEBS-Compliant.

CEBS Compliance plays a vital role in the CEBS designee’s pursuit of ongoing professional knowledge. Recognizing the importance of staying proficient and up to date in an ever-changing industry, CEBS is committed to public recognition of those who are CEBS-Compliant.

Compliant graduates are recognized on  www.cebs.org/compliance, a publicly available and searchable listing of all graduates whose compliance status is current. Compliant graduates are listed by country and alphabetically by state or province/territory. This listing is available for employers, clients, government regulators and other parties who are interested in or rely upon the professional currency that CEBS Compliance signifies.

Once you attest to meeting the 30 hours of compliance credits, you are welcome and encouraged to highlight your compliant status on your professional platforms. Other recognition may take place in conjunction with the annual ISCEBS Symposium or at local ISCEBS chapter events.

CEBS Compliance is defined as earning and reporting 30 hours of credit over two consecutive calendar years, known as your reporting period. When you earn 30 credits, you have attained CEBS-Compliant status and are recognized on the  compliance listing webpage. Compliance is open to all CEBS graduates of any year.

If you are not currently compliant, you can start at any time; there is no need to wait for a new calendar year to begin. If you do not earn 30 credits during a two-year time period, you will not be entitled to use the CEBS-Compliant status.  Refer to the table below to determine your reporting period.   

Your two-year period begins in the calendar year in which you first report a completed activity. For example, if you report at least 1 credit in 2023, your reporting period is established as 2023-2024. Once you establish your reporting period, you can report credits any time during that two-year period.

*Upon reporting at least one credit in 2024, you then have the rest of 2024 and 2025 to attain CEBS Compliance.

If you reach 30 credits during the first calendar year, your reporting period restarts with the following calendar year, giving you a new opportunity to extend your CEBS-Compliant status.

Your compliant-through date is determined by the year in which you attain CEBS Compliance, either by earning the designation, or by reporting 30 credits. The table below illustrates how long your CEBS Compliance status is in effect.

Recent graduates are considered compliant as of the day of completion through the date indicated below. For example, if you complete the CEBS designation on June 15, 2021, you are considered compliant through December 31, 2023. You can establish your next reporting period on or after January 1, 2022 and report completed activities to maintain your compliance status.

Guidelines for Calculating Compliance Credits 

When calculating Compliance credits, the following guidelines are in effect:

• The activity's content must related to one or more of the CEBS content domains.
• One Compliance credit hour is equal to 50 minutes of qualifying activity. Compliance credit is calculated as total minutes ÷ 50, rounded down to the nearest half credit.
  
  Example: Six hours (360 minutes) of content equals 7 credits.
  360 ÷ 50 =  7.2 Round down to the nearest half for a total of 7 credits.
• Only activities comprised of educational content are eligible. Time spent on meals, refreshment breaks and other noneducational activities does not qualify.
• If an activity begins in one calendar year and ends during the following calendar year (a formal course is the most common example of this), the compliance credits should be claimed for the year in which the activity is completed.

Note: Although a sponsor or provider of an activity may advertise a certain number of continuing education credits, you are responsible for using the guidelines described here to determine the activity’s applicable content and calculate compliance credit.  

You are encouraged to choose education activities that are relevant to your professional role and interests, especially if you are also pursuing continuing education requirements for another professional designation or license.

The topics below reflect the existing content domains covered in the CEBS curriculum and provide the educational framework for qualifying activities for compliance credit. The topics cover both the breadth of the subject matter as well as applications and industry practices reflected in the CEBS curriculum.

• Group Benefits Management
• Retirement Plans Management
• Wealth Management/Personal Financial Planning
• Governance/Integration/Coordination of Private, Group and Public Plans
• Plan Design
• Plan Funding and Finance
• Plan Administration/Claims
• Plan Communication
• Compliance Practices
• Resource and Cost-Containment Practices
• Technology, Service and Support Practices
• Regulatory, Legislative and Marketplace Developments
• Ethics and Professional/Fiduciary Responsibility

In addition to the topics listed above, these content areas (which were in the CEBS curriculum prior to 2017) are also considered for education activities.      

• Compensation Management
• Human Resources Management

A variety of education activities can qualify for compliance credit, and are explained in further detail below. The list is not exhaustive, and other activities may qualify. Given the nearly limitless spectrum of education courses and programs available, each CEBS graduate is responsible for determining whether any education activity chosen relates to one or more CEBS content areas. Consult this section for details and requirements for each activity and how to calculate your credits.

Supporting documentation is not required at the time of reporting completed credits. CEBS graduates should retain supporting documentation for at least three years after the activity is completed since it will be requested if you are selected for audit. It may be helpful to scan all of your supporting documents into one file to have ready if you are selected for audit. Examples of such records include: 

• Certificate of attendance
• Personalized attendance letter from the sponsoring provider
• Educational transcripts/grade results
• Teaching or writing contracts
• Registration receipt
• Confirmation letter/e-mail.

Related educational session attendance at a conference is eligible for compliance credit. One 50-minute hour of education equals one compliance credit. Meals, breaks and other noneducational events (receptions, exhibitor/vendor events, etc.) do not qualify. Examples of conferences include:

• ISCEBS Symposium
• ISCEBS chapter educational programs
• International Foundation in-person or virtual educational programs
• Conference attendance (in-person or virtual) educational programs from similar organizations (national or chapter level)

Successful completion of related educational programs and courses is eligible for compliance credit. Activities must be designed and conducted by persons qualified in the subject and must relate to the CEBS content domain areas.

Many CEBS graduates are involved in continuing education requirements for other professional designations or licenses, and these activities are likely to qualify for CEBS compliance credit. Examples of such programs and courses may include those sponsored by:

• Colleges and universities
• Professional organizations (national or local level)
• Organizations that offer professional designations or licenses relating to the CEBS content areas
• State or provincial/territorial licensing boards.

Below are some examples of common programs and courses that can qualify for compliance credit.

Teaching or presenting to health, retirement or other employee benefits professionals or students in an online, classroom or conference setting are eligible for compliance credits. All topics must relate to the CEBS content areas.

When reporting teaching/presenting credits, two credits per hour of actual teaching/presenting time can be claimed for the first time the class or seminar is conducted. For second and subsequent offerings of the same course or session, one credit per hour of actual teaching/presenting time can be claimed.

Credit awarded for teaching shall not exceed 15 hours within a reporting period even if multiple courses are taught/presented. 

Presentations designed for an audience unrelated to health, retirement employee benefits or compensation professionals (such as those for marketing purposes, media interviews, new hire orientations, open enrollment presentations or onboarding, etc.) do not qualify.

To self-report your eligible activities, follow these steps:

• Log in at www.ifebp.org/myprofile using your email address and password.
• As a CEBS graduate, your username defaults to your email address. Follow the prompts on the login page to reset your password or username. Having trouble? Contact CEBS Customer Service for assistance.
  
• Click “Manage Your CEBS Compliance Credits” button to the right of your name.
• Follow the prompts to view, add, edit or remove activities.

An audit is conducted to maintain the integrity of the self-reporting system. It also serves as a review of the kinds of activities CEBS graduates pursue for professional development, which helps the CEBS program and the International Foundation continue to grow and evolve to meet benefits professionals’ educational needs.

CEBS will randomly audit a percentage of designees who have reported compliance. If you are selected for audit, you should be prepared to submit supporting documentation of your education activities. No fee will be assessed for an audit.